TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office today arrested a former employee of Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, Fla., Roger Lea Scherer, for abuse of a disabled adult. The victim suffers from a mental disease that can cause the loss of limb control. According to the investigation, the victim’s flailing arms hit Scherer and he retaliated by allegedly punching the victim in the chest.

Scherer faces one count of abuse of a disabled adult, a third degree felony. If convicted, Scherer faces up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines. The State Attorney’s Office for the 9th Judicial Circuit will prosecute the case.

Attorney General Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates allegations of patient abuse, neglect, and exploitation in facilities receiving payments under the Medicaid program.Additionally, the MFCU investigates and prosecutes fraud involving providers that intentionally defraud the state's Medicaid program through fraudulent billing practices. Medicaid fraud essentially steals from Florida's taxpayers. From January 2011 to March 2015, Attorney General Bondi's MFCU has obtained more than $474 million in settlements and judgments.